


Hate Filled Eyes

by MrSpazzziE



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cold, Death, Eyes, Friendship, Gen, Hate, Horror, Humor, Hunted, Hunter - Freeform, Monsters, Nightmare, Parasite - Freeform, Psychological Drama, Skiing, Snow, Survival, Trauma, Zombies, dream - Freeform, friends - Freeform, meat - Freeform, survive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10617888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSpazzziE/pseuds/MrSpazzziE
Summary: A group of four friends go skiing to help unwind from the stresses of finals. Everything seems to be going well. There is plenty of snow, skiing, and fun times to be had, but little do they know that their lives are about to be changed forever.





	1. Cold Beginnings

A bitterly cold wind sweeps over the mountain top. The sunlight is shimmering through the soft, white snow. The trees shake like they are dancing to a musical masterpiece. Four friends stand side-by-side, at the peak of an intimidating slope.

The youngest, and tallest of the four turns to the others and says, “I’m not feeling so good ‘bout this, the only sport I’ve ever done is marching band.”

Jeremy reassures Brendan, “Don’t worry about it man, we’re all gonna suck. Plus, this little slope don’t look so tough.”

The four look out over the mountain and make note of the lack of obstacles and jumps. The least difficult skiing track lays before them.

Anna kicks a little bit of snow onto Jeremy’s shoes, “Don’t sweat it guys, this mountain doesn’t look that tough.”

They stand with their skis strapped to their feet. A clean sheet of untouched, powdered snow just begging to be skied on.

Katelyn shifts her skis into the ready position and begins to edge her way to slope, “I didn’t come all this way to just stand around and talk”, Katelyn pushes herself with her poles and begins to make her way down the mountain, slow at first but quickly picks up the pace and achieves a moderate speed.

“Here I come”, yelled Jeremy, his heart racing and his legs shaking slightly. A feeling of both anxiety and anticipation fill his body. He slowly follows Katelyn, more wobbling but impressive nonetheless.

Anna and Brendan take off after them, eventually getting comfortable enough to enjoy the adrenaline pulsing through their veins.

Jeremy, gaining speed, closes in behind Katelyn. “I’m gonna catch ya”, he screamed, his knees shaking, heart pounding, and skis wobbling.

Katelyn, unwilling to give up her position, gently swerves and bumps Jeremy. He wobbles for a moment and stumbles, his feet sliding out from underneath him. He falls, sliding a few feet before coming to a stop underneath a small pine tree.

Katelyn crosses the finish lines and pumps her first in the air. She belts out a celebratory scream before losing her balance and sliding into the fence, dazed but unharmed.

The bird observing this nonsense shakes its head, lets out a loud “Baack”, and flies away from all this bullshit.

Anna and Brendan follow in pursuit, at a much calmer and more controlled pace.

Brendan hollers down the mountain, “You alright Katelyn?”

Katelyn raises a single hand in the air and lifts her thumb, “I’m alright.”

Anna turns and notices Jeremy lying beside a fallen tree; she races over to him.

Anna helps him to his to his feet, “She sure knocked you on your ass”, Anna giggled, giving Jeremy a cute look and kiss on the cheek.”

Jeremy rubs his neck and back, “Yeah I am definitely going to feel that tomorrow.” He yells towards Katelyn and Brendan, “You owe me a hot chocolate.”

“Fair enough”, Katelyn yells.

Jeremy begins to ski down towards Katelyn and Brendan, but Anna grabs his shoulder and stop him before he gets too far.

Anna whispers to Jeremy, “Come look at this.”

Jeremy looks over to where Anan is pointing.

_This should be good_ , he thinks to himself.

After looking at the mysterious sight for a few moments, Jeremy turns and waves for Brendan and Katelyn to come, “You guys are going to want to see this.”

Katelyn and Brendan make their way slowly back up the mountain.

Katelyn struggles to move up the slope and breaths heavily.

_This better be good._

When they reached Jeremy and Anna, out of breath, Katelyn says, “What’s up guys?”

Jeremy silently motions them over to where Anna is standing, her camera in hand. The four see what appears to be a white tail deer, or at least what is left of it. Its face has been devoured away, and it appears to have beat itself to death against the tree Jeremy hit.

Katelyn groans in disgust, turning away from the gruesome site.

_What could have done this?_

Brendan leans in closer ands states, “It looks like something was munching on it, but it doesn’t quite look right.”

Jeremy crouches down beside Brendan, “Yeah, there aren’t any teeth marks”

Anna chimes in, “Well, some parasites will live inside their host and eat their way out.

The whole groups shudders at the thought.

“Yeah, I think I have read about something like that”, Katelyn responds, still reeling.

“I think it’s best we let someone know about this; after we finish skiing for the day of course”, Brendan says.

The group agrees; they ski back down the slope then make their way back to the top.  

Katelyn turns to Jeremy and Anna and says, “You know what guys, even though I didn’t think this would be any fun, I’m glad you convinced me. A few weeks away from school and home is what I really needed.”

Anna smiles, putting her hand on Katelyn’s shoulder and says, “I’m glad you came.”

Jeremy looks to Katelyn and says, “Yeah I’m glad you decided to come too. I know finals really burnt you out hard this year, and I could tell you needed some fun. I know it can be hard going on vacation with an old married couple”, he cheekily remarks, a big, dumb grin on his face, “but that’s what we brought Brendan for. That and we need his van for all our stuff.” Jeremy turns and winks at Brendan, giving him a slight nudge.

Brendan without skipping a beat, “yeah, your shitty, little Subaru would never had made it.”

Katelyn and Anna snicker as they near the top of the mountain.

“Damn man, I think I just got colder.”

The group reaches the top, but before they can make their second epic run they become distracted by an adorable puppy. A medium size Jack Russell is sitting on the side of the mountain, near a few chairs and tables. He is white all over besides a small brown patch on his head. They all let out a mixture of inhuman noise and sloppily rush over to the small pup.

Anna, eyes wide in glee, is the first to arrive. She bends down and looks for a tag on the puppy, making sure to give him plenty of belly rubs.

“Aw, where’s your mommy and daddy big guy?”

The pup looks blankly at her and gives her a big lick across the face.

“Aww you’re so cute”, she belts in a strange high pitched voice.

Katelyn, the next contender on **_Where’d this Pup Come From?_** ,  comes in beside Anna.

“Aw, you are even cuter up close.”

She rubs the puppy’s head and turns to Anna.

“Any sign of his owner?”

“No, but it is still early.

Jeremy and Brendan come in a few steps behind them. They both get their fill of puppy love before Brendan says, “Well, we can’t just leave the little guy out here, he’ll freeze.”

Jeremy grabs the little pup and hold him in his arms, “Yeah, I’ll take him back up the lodge to see if anyone is missing him.”

“I’ll come too. I gotta take a mean whiz.” With that Jeremy and Brendan make their way back to the lodge leaving Katelyn and Anna to ski.

Suddenly, tired from their small adventure, Katelyn and Anna sit down for a breather. They sit and admire the beauty of the mountains.

“It sure is beautiful up here. Makes you feel really big and really small at the same time”, Anna finishes her thought and rubs her ears.

“Yeah, you’re right; you can see so much from up here, but it also feels like you can see nothing. Like, there is so much more to the world than just us.”

The two young women contemplate their lives for a few moments. It seems that being separated from a constant feed of anxiety has already helped them relax.

Meanwhile, Brendan and Jeremy make their way up the path towards the lodge.

“What do you think we should name him?”, Jeremy says excited to have a furry new friend.

“We can’t just name him Jeremy, he isn…”

“I was thinking Harry Larry. You know because he is pretty hairy, and he looks like a Larry to me.”

Brendan gives Jeremy an expression of pure exasperation, “If we do get to keep him, we aren’t naming him that.”

Jeremy protests but ultimately gives up. They enter the lodge and walk up to the front desk. They ring the bell and a stout, older fellow waddles to the front desk.

“How may I help you two gentlemen?”

“Hello sir, we found this little dog out in the snow, and we were wondering if anyone was looking for him?” Jeremy puts on his best smile and holds the dog up so the man can get a better look.

The man looks closely at the dog, squinting and looking it up and down. He looks down at his desk, foraging through a stack of larger, important looking papers. After a few moments, he looks back up.

“No. No one has come looking for this dog you have here. I can, however, take him and keep him safe in case anyone comes looking.”

Brendan adjust his glasses, rubbing the condensation off the lenses. He places his hand down on the counter and says, “Thank you very much sir. If they ask, let them know that Cabin #5 found him.”

“Very well sir”, The small man takes the pup from Jeremy.  The puppy gives a small whimper, but the man wraps his hand around its snout before it can bark. He turns and walks towards the back room, shutting the door behind him.

“Hey Jeremy, did that guy give you the creeps or was it just me?”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying. His skin felt colder than the snow outside. Felt kinda bad giving the poor pup over to him.”

“Yeah, me too, but we can’t really enjoy our vacation while looking over a puppy. Let’s get back to Anna and Katelyn I’m sure they want to get back to skiing.”

“Yeah, right.”

Jeremy and Brendan head back outside and down the path.

Jeremy shivers and pulls his hood back over his head, “Damn, I almost forgot how cold it was.”

The two make their way back to the peak of the slope, Anna and Katelyn still sitting and admiring the surrounding mountain. They take the seats beside them, Jeremy beside Anna and Brendan beside Katelyn.

Jeremy turns to Anna and grasps her hand, “So, Harry Larry is safe and sound in the lodge.”

Anna and Katelyn look at Jeremy with an expression that can only be describe with the phrase, _WHATTHEFUCK?!_

Brendan clarifies, “He means the puppy.”

“Jeremy… what the fuck”, Anna gives Jeremy a weird look.

“Hey, I think Harry Larry is a great name”, Jeremy retorts before giving Anna a funny face back.

“Haha, whatever man. Well, we have plenty of more skiing to do. The tiny hill didn’t kill us so let’s try the next one.”

The four stand and agree. They head towards the next slope as the wind begins to die down and a few more people hit the slopes. The group skis for the remainder of the day; without incident or worry.

As the group makes their way inside to warm up before heading to their cabin, Jeremy notices a man standing near where they saw the dead deer.

“Hey Jeremy, quit letting the cold in”, Brendan walks over and slams the door shut.

Jeremy looks back and the man is gone.

_Huh, who was that?_

Later that evening, after a day full of fun and snow, the four friends make their way along the path towards their cabin.

Brendan sits behind the wheel, Katelyn to his right, and Jeremy and Anna in the back. Music of a variety of different genres and tastes blares over the radio. The four sing along with the music, with a varying amount of success.

They arrive at the cabin just before night fall. Brendan pulls the van, rear end first, up to the front door. The four step out and unload their belongs, a mixture of food, drinks, clothes, and board games.

Jeremy stands at the door waving towards Brendan, “Hey Brendan, do you mind helping me get some fire wood from outside?”

“Sure, let me sit my bag down and I will be right out”, Brendan lays his duffle bag to the side of the couch. He stretches and cracks his neck before walking out the front door.

Jeremy rubs his hands violently, desperately trying to warm them, “Fuck, I knew I should have brought thicker gloves.”

Brendan smirks and flashes his extremely warm and protected gloves, “I think I have a spare pair if you need.”

“Thanks man. Now let’s get this wood inside. Hehe wood.”

Brendan face palms himself so hard that a small amount of snow falls from the roof above them and lands of his head. He does a little dance, desperately trying to get the snow out, “Cold, Cold, COLD!”

Jeremy snickers but helps Brendan. The two both grab two armfuls of wood and head back inside. Once inside they place the wood in a neat pile by fireplace.   Jeremy heads into his room and begins unpacking his belongs, making chit-chat with Anna.

 “So, what do you think of this place so far?”

Anna places a pair of pants into the drawer and stands up to stretch her back.

 “It’s really pretty up here. The snow is so powdery, and I keep seeing tons of cute, little squirrels and bunnies.”

Jeremy reaches into his bag and pulls out his shower bag, placing it on the nightstand beside the bed.

“Yeah, it really is beautiful up here. We will have to go out later and look at the stars, without all the light pollution blocking it all out.”

“For sure”, Jeremy and Anna finish unpacking their things.

They find Brendan making a few PB&J sandwiches. “You guys hungry?” Brendan puts away the peanut butter and wipes off the spoon.

“Yeah, I could go for a sandwich”, Jeremy and the others all grab a sandwich and take a seat in the main living area.

“So, what do you guys wanna do first?”

Brendan reaches down over the side of the couch and rummages through his bag, “I brought a pack of playing cards if y’all want to play Rummy.”

The whole group looks at each other and nod in agreement.

Jeremy grabs the deck from Brendan’s hand and opens it. He messily cuts the deck before passing out everyone’s hand.

 “Yeah, and the loser has to get fire wood next.”

The group sits and enjoys their sandwiches. Jeremy gets up and gets him and Anna a glass of water. The game goes on for about an hour before the climatic conclusion.

“And I’m… out”, Brendan lays down his final cards.

“Ah dammit”, Jeremy angrily smacks his hand down. “I had like 150 points in my hand. I guess I’ll get my boots on.”

Anna grabs Jeremy’s arm, “Hang on let Brendan count up the score.”

Brendan looks over everyone’s hand and subtracts and adds points accordingly.

“In first place with 400 points…Katelyn.”

“Woo, my ass ain’t freezing tonight.”

“In second place with 375 points is… Anna”

Anna and Katelyn give each other a large hi-five and let a sarcastic, “Girl Power”.

“In third place with 175 points is…Jeremy”, Brendan sighs heavily.

Jeremy breathes out and rubs the back of his head, “Ugh thank god, I don’t know if my hands could take any more of the cold tonight.”

Brendan looks at his cards with a defeated expression, “Damn, even with the last hand I lost by 25 points.”

“There is always next time Brendan; by the way, the fire is looking a little small.” Jeremy winks at Brendan.

“Yeah, yeah”, Brendan slowly stands up and puts on his shoes. Murmuring a few words under his breath as he steps outside.

“I don’t know about you guys but my ass is tired so I am going to sleep.” Jeremy yawns and stands up to stretch, “I’ll make sure the fire is under control, but then I’m going to bed.”

Brendan rushes back in out of the cold, an armful of wood in his hands. He places the wood by the fire and rushes off to get a glass a water.

Jeremy walks over to him and gives him a little nudge.

 “Hey man, I was just kidding earlier you don’t have to get the wood all by yourself, I’ll help.”

Brendan looks over with a blank and startled expression.

“Nah, it’s not that, it’s just out there I felt like I was being watched; like something was out there with me.”

“Huh, well there shouldn’t be anyone out this far but us; I can grab a flashlight, and we can go check if you want.”

“No, it’s alright, I just want to get some sleep; today really wore me out.”

“Yeah, same here; alright I headed to bed, see you in the morning.”

With that everyone got in their pajamas and headed to sleep. Brendan on the couch and Jeremy, Anna, and Katelyn in their respective rooms.

A few hours later, in the dead of night, Anna stirs in her bed.

“Damn, I can’t get to sleep.”

She looks over at the lump of a person named Jeremy, fast asleep. She turns over and puts her arm around Jeremy. After a few minutes, she begins to drift off, but before she can she, hears a loud bang coming from outside.

“What the hell was that?” She sits up in the bed and looks around but doesn’t see anything, “Eh probably just a little critter bumping around.”

Then a similar bang happens, “Aw fuck, I don’t want to go out there.”

The noise continues. Anna sighs, “Alright well I better go see.”

She steps out of the bed, making sure not to wake Jeremy. She grabs the flashlight and tiptoes through the house; she opens the front door and notices the fire wood is knocked over. She walks over towards it and takes a closer look.

“Huh, funny I don’t see any kinds of tracks or any sign of what knocked it over; mm must have been the wind or something.”

As she finished her thought, a tall, shadowed figure slumbers up behind her. A cold hand reaches out and taps her on the shoulder. Anna, in her both tired and hyper vigilant state, flips around and lets out small scream.

“Ahh fuck”, as she turns her hand swipes across the figures face.

“Ow damn, what did you do that for”, The shadowy figure comes into focus.

“Brendan? What are you doing out here?”

Brendan rubs his now sore cheek, “I forgot to take that wiz earlier. It hit me hard a few minutes ago, so I came out here to well umm… take care of business.”

“What was that sound I heard earlier?”

“Oh, well when I came out I forgot my flash light and banged into the fire wood. My foot is still sore from that.”

“Ah OK”, Anna lets out sigh of relief. She apologizes to Brendan for hitting him, and the two walk back inside. As Anna steps in she sees something out in between the trees.

She turns and looks but the figure it gone.

 “Huh.”

As she turns back around a cold hand slides out the doorway and grabs her shoulder.

“AAAH!” Anna turns again and this time elbows Brendan in the stomach.

“Woah honey, calm down, it’s just me, Jeremy.”

Anna rubs her eyes, and hand, “Oh, sorry.”

She bends over and sighs deeply, “Guess I’m a little jumpy for some reason.”

“It’s alright now let’s get back to sleep.”

“Yeah, let me back in this cabin before I get hit again.” Brendan rubs his stomach and face and hastily goes through doorway.

“Oh, god sorry Brendan”, Anna gives a big smile and rubs her head.”

“Yeah, whatever”, he mumbles on his way to the couch.

“Jeremy startled you but you didn’t hit him, why’d you hit me, I was just trying to pee, I feel so attacked right now.”

Anna and Jeremy return to their room and fall asleep. Katelyn slept soundly the entire time. Unaware of the shenanigans happening outside her door.


	2. Lending a Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna, Katelyn, Jeremy, and Brendan have settled in nicely and are enjoying their vacation. Jeremy and Anna are still pondering about what happened to that poor deer, and Katelyn and Brendan are up to some shenanigans. The resort seems eerily quiet, what could be going on?

 

Katelyn, unaffected by the previous night’s events, turns over in her bed. She rubs her eyes and notices that her alarm clock reads _8:00 am_. “Seriously? Morning already?” She rises out of bed slowly, getting a slight head rush. She throws her blankets to the side and gets out of bed. She makes her way over to her dresser, bends down, and opens her pants drawer. “Mm, too early for real pants.” She slides her comfiest pair of sweatpants on and makes her way into the living room.

Katelyn yawns and says, “It seems no one is up yet.” She makes her way through the living area, taking note of the snoring Brendan in her path. She walks into the kitchen area and starts a pot of coffee. Katelyn grabs the least shitty looking banana on the counter and notices a strange piece of paper beside it. “Hm? When did this get here?”

She picks up the paper for closer inspection. It seems to be laminated and has the name of the lodge written across the top. On the paper reads, _Breakfast 9-10:30 am, Lunch 12-2 pm, Dinner 5-7 pm_. Below the time listing reads, _All guests, don’t forget to come out to Cabin lot #1 for a special wild game dinner. December 15 th 5-7 pm._

“Aw, shoot, that was yesterday. Oh well, eating squirrel wasn’t really on my agenda anyways.”

Katelyn places the paper back down where she found it and checks on the coffee. “Mm, almost done.”

Katelyn throws the banana peel in the trash and decides to get some fresh air. As she walks past Brendan, she gets an idea. “Heh, this should be good.”

She hurries back into her room and returns holding a stack of cup coasters. She places a few on the side of Brendan’s face, making sure not to wake him. After she has successfully done that, she walks back to the kitchen and gets a glass of water. She carefully places the cup on the coaster and quietly walks away.

“I can’t believe he didn’t wake up.”

She decides to wait for her prank to unfold out on the porch. She walks towards the front of the cabin, opens the front door, and sits outside.

A few bunnies run past the porch as Katelyn shivers slightly. “Damn, I forgot how cold it was out here.” She looks out towards the white snow and green pine trees. “It is worth it though, so beautiful and calm.”

Brendan, awoken by the smell of coffee, shakes himself awake. He goes to sit up, unaware of his situation, and the cold water pours all over his face and body. “Goddammit, that’s cold.”

 He jumps up out of bed and searches through his bag for a towel. He wipes himself off, still somewhat butt-hurt and shocked.

“Next time, I’m sleeping behind a locked door.”

He turns and see the coffee pot bubbling. He looks around and notices Katelyn sitting out on the porch. He slides on his slippers and goes out to greet her.

“Good morning, asshole. I’m assuming you are responsible for the cold-water trick?”

Katelyn turns and waves at Brendan, amused and unbothered by his sour attitude.  “What’s up, dude?”

He sits beside her and begins chit chat. “How’d you sleep?”

“Actually, really well. How about you?”

“After that weird night, surprisingly well. I had a few strange dreams though.”

“Oh really, what about?”

“Well, last night whenever I was out here by myself, I felt like I was being watched. Just had this eerie feeling. Then, when I went out to umm… take care of business I thought I saw someone out in the trees.”

“Oh, that’s creepy.” Katelyn shivers slightly, both from the cold and the thought of being watched. “What else happened?”

“What made it even weirder was when Anna came out she thought she saw someone too.”

“Well, I mean people will often see things that aren’t there if they think something is there.”

“Yeah, but the weird thing was that I never mentioned it to her. I just said I was the one who knocked over the wood. I didn’t think anyone would believe me, or care. Plus, I didn’t want to freak anyone out.”

“Huh, that is weird. What was your dream about?”

“In my dream, I was standing outside of a cabin, but not our cabin. The color was all out of whack. Like the snow was green and the sky was purple or something.

Brendan shifts in his seat and continues, “No one seemed to be around, but it felt like someone was breathing down my neck. Like right behind me. I looked around the cabin and I think I saw someone but before I could get a better look I woke up.”

“Huh. That’s a trippy dream, man.” Katelyn looks back and notices that the coffee is finished. “Alright, let’s head back in and get some coffee. I feel like I am going to pass out.”

“Ha, same.” Brendan and Katelyn stand up and notice a small pack of bunny sitting beside the cabin.

As they enter the main living area, Anna and Jeremy step out of their room.

“Good morning everybody,” Jeremy shouts, waving his hand in the air like he just doesn’t care. “How did everybody sleep?”

The group lets out a collective mumble-groan.

“Yeah, same here.”

The four friends sit down on the couch and turn the TV on.

Anna looks at the TV with a bored expression, “Ugh, all we got is the local news.”

A barrage of sports scores and school closings slides across the screen. All seems normal and dull until a breaking news segment flashes on the television.

“This is John Tucker with this breaking news bulletin.”

Katelyn rolls her eyes so hard that they practically spin back into her skull, “Pfft, all these anchors dudes sound the same. Typical Ken doll types.”

“A large, white, naked man has been spotted stumbling along the highway running just outside Snowshoe resort. He has been spotted attacking and attempting to bite anything or person that comes near him.”

Katelyn face palms and shakes her head, “Fanfuckingtastic. That’s just what this world needs: another angry white man.”

“This just in! I received word that we have him on helicopter cam. To you, Frank.”

Jeremy places his hand on Brendan’s shoulder, “Hey man, turn it up.”

Brendan increases the volume to 69 and the group leans in a little closer.

Jeremy thinks to himself, ‘Nice.’

The four watch as the screen cuts to a man stumbling down the highway. His pants and shirt are torn and there appears to be blood all over his face and remaining clothes.

Jeremy leans in closer and squints, “Hey Brendan, does that guy look familiar?”

Brendan does the same, “Yeah, now that you mention it. He does, but I can’t place where I recognize him.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Four police cruisers come screaming into the frame, sirens wailing and lights flashing. The police officers surround the man, guns raised and command him to get down on the ground. The man barely acknowledges them and continues to stumble aimlessly. One officer shoots the man with a taser; he shakes slightly and turns towards him.

He becomes more aggressive as he gets closer and closer to the cop. His mouth opens wide and he lets out an inhumane howl. The eight policemen stand back in fear and open fire, pelting him with bullets.

The whole group reels back in horror.

“Wow, they are really laying into him,” Jeremy shakes his head in disgust. “I know he’s frightening, but this seems excessive.”

The man takes bullet after bullet, but remains unaffected.

“What the hell?” Brendan scratches his head in confusion. “He must’ve been shot dozens of times by now. How is he still standing?”

The man reaches his target and latches onto his arm, pulling it up towards his mouth. He attempts to chomp down on him but the police officer resists.  He is screaming and attempting to escape his grip but he can’t get loose from the man. Right as the creep is about to bite down a bullet comes whizzing in and strikes him in the forehead; he falls back and collapses, dead on the ground.

The news station quickly cuts back the anchor.

“I am relieved to report that the suspect has been shot and killed.”

The whole group is disturbed and shocked by what they just watched. An uncertain silence hangs in the air for a few moments before anyone dares to speak.

Anna turns her head away. “Damn.”

“I’m being told that we will have a few words from the officer tha…”

Click. Jeremy turns it off.

“Hey, guys, I think we ought to head up for breakfast. I can’t really stand to watch any more of this.”

Katelyn nods her head and stands up, “Yeah, you’re right.”

The group gathers their things and heads outside, the cold air nipping at their skin. Everyone is quiet as they drive their way back towards the lodge. When they turn around the bend, the trees give way to a solid view of nothing but blankets upon blankets of snow.

“Huh. There don’t seem to be many people out yet,” Brendan notes.

Jeremy looks to his left and right, “Yeah, that’s weird. This time yesterday the slopes were filled with people.”

Katelyn, remembering the paper she saw this morning, comments, “On the bottom of the menu in our cabin it said that dinner last night was wild game, so maybe they all got food poisoning?”

“Makes me extra glad that you didn’t notice that paper till this morning,” Brendan responds, taking his eyes off the path for a moment.

The van begins to slide gently off the trail, sliding over a patch of ice.

Katelyn grabs Brendan’s shoulder, “Hey! Eyes on the road, buddy. Focus.”

Brendan jerks the wheel and gets the van back on track.

“Sorry ‘bout that.”

The van comes to a stop just outside the lodge. The four friends exit the vehicle and walk inside.

“Wow, this place seems bigger on the inside,” Anna looks up towards the ceiling, taking in all the empty space and beautiful lights.

They walk over to the breakfast bar and each grab a plate. One after another, they fill their plates with a variety of eggs, bacon, fruit, and toast, then grab a drink.

They each take a seat around a small, square table and begin eating.

Jeremy chomps down on a crunchy piece of bacon. “You can never go wrong with bacon.”

Brendan notices a TV in the corner and flips it on. The screen flickers to life and a cute, little bunny bounces across the screen, “Ah, I remember this show.”

They watch the show, enjoying the contrast with what they watched just a few minutes prior.

Jeremy turns to Katelyn, “So you were the first up, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I noticed a big puddle of water in the floor near the couch. Where did that come from?”

A look of distain washes over Brendan’s face.

Katelyn laughs and orange juice almost shoots out her nose. When she regains her composure, she says, “Yeah I pranked Brendan good this morning.”

She tells them about placing the coasters and glass of water on Brendan face. With each word, he shakes his head little bit more. As she tells them about what he looked when he got up the whole group, including Brendan, belts with laughter.

“Ah, that what I needed after all that horrible BS on the news this morning,” Jeremy wipes eyes and mouth. “You guys ready to do some more skiing?”

Everybody gets up and dumps their trash in the garbage. Katelyn attempts to put herself in the trash but sadly she does not fit.

Once outside they grab their stuff from the van and make their way to the second-to-smallest slope.

Jeremy looks up at the sky, admiring the beautiful blue view, “Sure is a gorgeous day.”

Jeremy and Brendan decide to take off down the mountain first, still a bit wobbly but more stable than yesterday. When Katelyn and Anna are ready, they do the same. All four friends are gliding down the mountain at a moderate pace, taking in the fresh air and trying to avoid falling.

After a few a minutes of skiing Jeremy remembers the gruesome looking deer and decides to go check it out again. He yells over to Anna and she decides to come with him. The two ski over towards the fallen tree.

Jeremy arrives first and takes a peak over the log, “Huh, that’s weird.” The deer is gone. All that is left is some fur, blood, and bones.

“Eww, gross. It smells even worse than before.” Anna holds her nostrils shut and turns away, her eyes watering. “Where did the rest of it go?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible that some animal scavenged it.”

Anna bends down and picks up a hunk of fur, “No, I don’t think so. Look at the fur. It is in neat chunks. It looks like someone butchered the animal right here.”

Jeremy looks closely and nods his head, “Ugh, I hope no one tried to eat this poor creature. It would have to be crawling with parasites and it was already rotting.”

At this point, Brendan and Katelyn get curious and come over to investigate.

Katelyn reels back, even more disgusted than before, “Fuck, it smells like someone ate dog shit than shat it back out.”

“Well, nothing to do about it now, might as well get back to skiing. Let’s just avoid this slope for the rest of our break.” Jeremy, and the others, make their way back to the top of the slope.

They are about to go for another ride when a thin, 20-something man comes walking towards them. He is wearing the uniform of the lodge.

Brendan waves over at him, “Something the matter?”

The young man comes a little closer and says, “I don’t want to bother you, sir, or your friends, but I seem to be in a little bit of a situation.”

The man seems nervous and fidgets back and forth.

Brendan sticks his hand out, “I’m Brendan, and these are my friends: Jeremy, Katelyn, and Anna. What’s your name?”

The man shakes Brendan’s hand, “My name is Barry.”

“Nice to meet you Barry. Now what can we help you with?” Jeremy steps forward slightly and does is best to give off a friendly vibe.

“Uh well it seems that all the other employees that were supposed to be working today called in sick. The only other employee here is Chuck. I tried calling Dave but he isn’t answering. He is supposed to working the front desk.”

“Yeah I think we met him earlier.”

“He went down last night to help with the ‘Wild Game’ dinner but I haven’t heard from him since. Some of the surrounding lots were calling and complaining about weird noises coming from the woods. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone and I couldn’t just leave the lodge unattended so I just told them we would get to it first thing in the morning. Well now its morning and nobody has shown up yet.”

“What would you like us to do, Barry?”

Barry smiles slightly. Most people don’t care to get to know his name, or even look him in the eye when he speaks.

“I need to go check on Cabin Lot #1 and I didn’t want to go alone. To be honest, I’m scared of the woods. The only reason I took this job is because I love skiing. If you all could be kind enough to follow me to Lot 1 I would be eternally grateful. Plus, I think I can get your stay extended or some free skiing lessons.”

“Sure thing, Barry. We can help you. Plus, I’m sure Brendan would appreciate the skiing lessons.” Jeremy winks and nudges Brendan.

The whole group laughs, though Barry’s laugh was uncomfortable sounding. He was never good at telling if it was OK for him to laugh along with the guests.

Barry tells them to follow him up to the back of the lodge. There he shows them a few snowmobiles. He gets on 1, Anna and Jeremy get on 1, and Katelyn and Brendan on the last one. Katelyn driving for obvious reasons. The group sets off down the path towards who knows what.


	3. Heating Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are really starting to heat up for the four friends. Barry, a young employee, is leading them out towards the unknown in an attempt to help. What or who will they find in Cabin Lot #1? Read on to find out.

The four friends follow Barry towards Cabin Lot # 1. Even though it is below freezing, a single bead of sweat rolls down Barry’s soft, shaven cheek. He has never been a leader in his entire life.

Jeremy, worried about Barry, speeds up to him, “You doing OK, man?”

Barry’s eye shift down, he was never good at hiding his feelings, “Yeah I am alright, just a little scared. Thank you for coming out here with me.”

Jeremy gives Barry a reassuring smile, “No problem man, always happy to help.”

Jeremy looks forwards, observing the hundreds of trees that still lay in front of them, “How much longer before we get there?”

“We should be arriving any minute now.” Barry feels a sense of uneasiness in his stomach. He has never gone all this way without another employee; he’s not sure if they are going in the right direction.

Jeremy slows back down and returns to the pack.

After a few more minutes, the trees give way and a large, open camp ground appears. The group pulls up to the front of the first cabin and kills their engines.

Brendan steps off his snowmobile and takes a look around, _Huh, so this is Cabin Lot #1?_ Brendan’s eyes scan from left to right, taking notice of at least eight cabins.

_No sign of anybody._

They all group up, Barry in the lead.

_Alright think Barry, think. If Dave were here, what would he do?_

Barry clears his voice, “Alright everyone, thank you for coming. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I we would make it.”

_Wow Barry, great start._

Barry wipes his brow; _how can it be so hot out here?_

“I think that the best thing for us to do is split up, that way we can cover more ground.”

Katelyn gives Barry a perplexed look, “actually, Barry, I think it would be for the best if we stuck together; who knows what is out here?”

Barry’s knees shake, mimicking the tree branches above him. He has never made such an important decision, and the first thing he says is being challenged.

“Uh, yeah!”, his voice cracking, “You’re right.”

_How could I be so stupid? What would have happened if I had found someone in help and no one else was around?_

“Alright, umm, let’s start looking for people. We need find out what happened.”

Anna smiles slightly, thinking about a good meme she saw a few days ago.

_A smile?! Yes, Barry you are doing something right._

“Alright friends, let’s move out.”

Barry turns from the group, a look of relief and cringe on his face.

_Eh, was ‘friends’ too much?_

The mixed group of friends (yes, _friends_ Barry), make their way towards the first cabin.

Barry knocks on the door, because of course he does, but gets no answer.

“Hello, is anyone there?” No answer.

The group makes their way around the cabins, trash and numerous signs of struggle everywhere.

Jeremy picks up a stray piece of trash, a pop can still half-filled, “Damn, what happened here?”

Anna comes rushing over to Jeremy, “Put that crap down you don’t know where it’s been.”

Jeremy throws the can off into the woods, “Yeah, true.” He rubs some kind of sticky fluid on his pants. _Gross._

Brendan, standing beside a picnic table, notices something familiar, “Hey guys, come over here.”

The group rushes over to Brendan.

Brendan points to something on the table, “Does this look familiar?”

They look down and see a large pile of what looks like deer meat. It looks like it but sure doesn’t smell like it.

Jeremy turns away, covering his face with his hand, “Damn, that is rank.”

Anna bends down to look, holding her nose tight, “I think this is same deer as the other day.”

“How do figure that?” Katelyn bends down to get a better look.

“Well, if you look closely, you can still see the creepy crawlies move around.”

Katelyn notices a single parasite wiggly around. Its little head pops out, “Eww”.

_I swear that little fucker is staring right at me._

“Well, that explains the food poisoning. I’m surprised we aren’t seeing bodies if this is what they ate.” Katelyn stands up and turns from group.

_I hope they cooked it at least._

“No, that can’t be.” Barry stood in front of his new friends.

_I can’t believe I just did that._

Barry had never stood up for anything in his life. He couldn’t quite tell why he was standing up his employer, but it was too late now.

“All of our food comes from a reputable hunter, and he would never supply us with spoiled meat.”

Katelyn looks at him with a dumbstruck expression, “Someone brought this meat here. Doesn’t matter who, someone poisoned these people.”

Anna steps forward, “We can worry about who did this after we find and help everyone.”

The group collectively nods their heads in agreement. They continue to search the grounds but to no avail. Right as they were about to turn back they hear something.

Barry, feeling more ballsy than he has ever felt in his entire life, goes rushing towards the sound. He, weakly, smacks on the door to the last cabin and sees a man slouched over against the back wall. His pale skin is scratched and covered in bite marks. His clothes are torn and covered in blood.

“Oh, my god Chuck, you’re alive”, Barry kneels to him, holding his hand.

Chuck violently coughs, dark black blood shoots out his mouth onto the floor. His eyes are droopy and he seems like he could pass out at any second.

“They… the…”, he coughs again, “they got him, Barry.”

“Who got, who Chuck?”

Chuck slumps over slightly.

Barry shakes him, “Chuck, stay with me.”

Chuck head raises, he hands Barry a small, plastic card.

“They got Dave. The ‘people’”, he wheezes, more blood shooting out his mouth, “except they ain’t people no more.”

“Dave? What do you mean ‘they ain’t people no more?’”

Chuck slumps over for the last time, his hand falls and hits hard on the wooden floor.

“Chuck. Chuck!”

Barry shakes Chuck from side-to-side. He smacks him across the face but he doesn’t respond. He screams his name out as his eyes begin to swell up with tears.

Brendan runs over to grab him.

“Barry, he’s gone man. We can’t help him.”

Brendan tries to help him up and get him away from the body but Barry won’t move.

“I’m not leaving Chuck!” Barry has broken down; his weak constitution couldn’t take the trauma of what just happened in front of him.

Brendan picks up the plastic card and looks at it.

_Hmm._

“Jeremy, look at this”, Brendan walks over to Jeremy and shows him the card, “It’s Dave, the guy from the front desk.”

“Yeah it is, we met him yesterday.”

“That’s not all, I think this is the man from the news this morning.”

Jeremy looks closer at the card, “Holy fuck you’re right. I knew I had seen him somewhere.”

“But if he was killed here last night, by whatever ‘they’ are, how did he get out on the road this morning?”

“Maybe he escaped.”

As Jeremy and Brendan ponder over what really happened to Dave they hear Barry scream.

“Aaaahhh, Chuck!!!”

Chuck has Barry pinned to the floor, his teeth dug into his left forearm. Brendan springs into action, he runs over and kicks Chuck off Barry. Him and Jeremy help Barry to his feet, but he doesn’t look good. All the stress added to his deep wound has him weak.

Jeremy looks sternly to Brendan, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Brendan nods in agreement, but the snarling sound behind them gets their attention. They look back and see Chuck, in all his glory. Barry’s blood dripping from his jowls, his skin is pale with a hint of yellow. His eyes are glazed over and full of hatred.

Jeremy looking at Brendan, “Aw shit what are we going to do with him? Wait I have an idea.”

Jeremy lets go of Barry and moves over to Chuck, “I saw this in a movie once.”

Jeremy reels his foot back and smashes down on Chuck knee, snapping it like a twig. Chuck collapses but seems otherwise unbothered.

“Yeah take that you bastard. That’s what you get for biting Barry.”

Anna yells over, “Hey guys, I think we should get out of here.”

Jeremy then kicks Chuck in the jaw, dislocating it.

_Damn, what is this dude made of?_

“Yeah take that asshole.”

“GUYS!”

“What is it?”

Jeremy and Brendan, with Barry, turn and walk out to Katelyn and Anna.

“This.”

Before them are 30 people, all different sizes, ages, sexes, and races. The one thing they have in common is that angry, glazed over look in their eyes.

Jeremy glances over and look at each and every one of them.

“Shit.”

Katelyn screams out, “Everybody, move yo ass!!!”

The group listens, Katelyn and Anna lead the pack, Jeremy and Brendan taking up the rear with Barry.

Jeremy reassures Barry, “Hang on buddy, we are going to get you out of here.”

Barry mumbles something incoherent but heroic.

“That’s the spirit.”

The group make their way towards the skimobiles. Luckily the ‘people’ seem sluggish and non-aggressive if they keep their distance. They are a few feet from their goal when a few of the creeps take interest and try to latch on for a ride.

Katelyn and Anna kick the goons off the back of their skimobiles and start them up. Luckily this is real life, not a horror movie, and they start right away. Brendan and Jeremy are not far behind, smacking and kicking their way through the growing crowd of weirdos.

“Damn, doesn’t matter what we do they just keep coming at us. Even Chuck won’t stop.”

Chuck crawls his way towards them, a snapped leg and caved in skull not slowing him down.

Jeremy jumps on the back of Anna’s ride and Brendan takes Barry. They head off back towards the lodge and their van, the ghoulies not far behind.

Katelyn shakes her head, trying to process what just happened, “What the fuck was that all about?”

Anna turns to her, “I don’t know Katelyn, I don’t know. Those ‘people’ didn’t look alive anymore.”

“But if they were dead, how were they moving around?”

Jeremy interjects, “Fuck if I know. Right now, I am ready for class again. None of this was on the brochure.”

_Were those things zombies?!_

The group, luckily, make it out of the camp site.

“That must have been what was making all the weird noise last night”, Jeremy looks back at Brendan, “Is Barry OK?”

“He is still breathing.”

“Good, let me know if that changes.”

Anna is the first to escape from the trees and back into the open, “Uh guys, it looks like we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

Brendan yells up in confusion, “What do you mean we are…”

As Brendan cuts out into the open, he sees hundreds of shambling corpses stumbling along the mountain.

“Oh, I see what you meant.”

The friends dodge their way around the bloated bastards and get to the van. It is surround by a handful of the creeps.

“You assholes better not get blood all over my van.”

They stop just short of their car.

“Hey Katelyn, I’ll get the guys on the left side if you got the right.”

“Are you nuts Brendan?”

“No, but I don’t think we have a lot of options. Would you rather go give them hugs?”

Katelyn looks at them, they notice and turn towards her, their mouths dripping with blood and their eyes filled with hate, “Alright, alright.”

The two friends rev their snowmobiles and go flying at the bloody dudes, smashing into them and sending them flying. Katelyn miss judges slightly and smash into the side of Brendan’s van.

“My van!!”

“Get over it man, we need to get out of here.”

“Brendan agrees, through his mumbling, and gets in the car. Jeremy, Anna, and Barry get in the back. Brendan starts his van, and luckily again, it starts right away.

“Hurry up Brendan those guys are getting back up again.”

The group looks at the window and sees the creeps rise again, unaffected by their injuries. Brendan slams on the gas and they peel out.

“Stay with me Barry”, Jeremy shakes Barry slightly. He doesn’t look well, very similar to what Chuck looked like.

“Aw shit, the snow is coming down so hard.”

The van moves along at a fast, but safe pace. The snow is coming down so hard that they can barely see in front of them.

“We have about 20 miles before we get back to the main road on this side. I think I remember seeing a hospital about a half an hour from here. We take Barry, and then we get a hold of the local police.

“Sounds good, Brendan”, Jeremy continues to try and keep Barry conscious but it doesn’t seem to be working.

Anna leans forward and grabs Brendan’s shoulder, “Can’t you go any faster?” Her nervous getting to her.

“Not if you want to make it there in one piece. This van can only do so much.”

The four sit there in near silence.

“Damn the storm is so bad we can’t even get anything on the radio.”

Barry slumps over, his body going stiff and cold.

“Barry? Barry!!!”

Jeremy shakes Barry over and over but he doesn’t stir. He lays him down and feels his for his pulse but can’t feel anything.

“Brendan step on it we are losing him.”

Brendan responds by flooring it, rocketing the van forward along the path.

Jeremy begins to do chest compression, Anna hold his head as Jeremy breaths for him, deeply into his lungs. A few minutes go by and Barry seems unresponsive. Jeremy and Anna become more frantic as they try to save the life of their new friend.

After several minutes Jeremy slumps down, holding onto the hands of Barry, ice cold.

Brendan and Katelyn look back with a shocked look on their face, “Is he…?”

“Yes.”

Jeremy lets go of his hands, a singular tear forms in his eyes. Before it can fall Anna catches it. Jeremy looks up and sees Anna, a gentle yet sad smile on her face.

“Hunny, you did all you could. There’s nothing else we can do for him.”

Jeremy nods gently but remains silent, and uneasy feeling in his stomach.

They whole group sits in silence for a few moments before Brendan says, “I think we are almost there.”

It seems that everything is going to be OK, however Jeremy notices that Barry’s body is shifting and moving beneath his legs.

“Barry?”

Before Jeremy, or anyone else could react, Barry leaps up and pins Jeremy on his back. He snarls at him, the same hate filled look in his eyes.

_AHHHHHHHH, FFFUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!!!_

Jeremy screams out, “AHHHHHHHH, FFFUUUUUCCCCKKKKK!!!!!” and pisses his pants. He does his best to hold Barry off but he seems must stronger than before.

The whole group goes into a panic trying to get Barry off him. Anna, Katelyn, and Brendan all hit, push, and pull on him but he doesn’t flinch.

Barry smacks back at Katelyn, causing her to flip around in her seat and smack her head on the dash board. She looks up in a daze and sees a familiar face.

“HARRY LARRY, LOOK OUT!!!!”

Brendan turns back in time to see the dog and swerves hard to the left to avoid him, in doing so the van goes flying over the side of the mountain. It goes screaming down the side, much like the people in side.

The van turns on its side and smashes into a large tree, passenger side. The whole group violently jerks, Anna against the seat, Brendan and Katelyn against the doors and dash, and Jeremy against the ceiling. Barry goes flying out the side window, out of sight. The four friends lay in their once great van unconscious, bleeding, and in need of help.


End file.
